BOLTON Wanderers have been praised in parliament for ditching a lucrative sponsorship deal with a payday loan company.

Whites pulled out of a £500,000 shirt sponsorship agreement with QuickQuid in June following outcry across Bolton, with opponents claiming it was not in keeping with the Wanderers’ image as a community-based “family club”.

Instead, the club signed a deal with Fibrlec, a technology partner with the University of Bolton.

The decision was praised by Labour MP Chris Evans as he backed calls to regulate the high-cost credit industry and restrict advertising budgets in an attempt to ensure credit unions flourish.He said if football supporters saw the names of payday lenders alongside reputable companies it could legitimise them.

Mr Evans added: “The huge problem I have noticed with payday lenders and short-term loan lenders, is the power of advertising.

“And I wouldn’t say this very often as an Opposition MP, but I feel sorry for the Government when I see investment like £38 million in credit unions — that is a good thing and should be applauded and I see nothing wrong with doing that — but they really are in a David and Goliath situation.

“Think about it — £38 million for three years while the big five payday lenders have just spent £36.3 million in one year on advertising and that is just going to continue.”

Moving a backbench business debate on high-cost credit, he told the Commons: “However, I have to say the speed of these measures to me and others like me who have campaigned on this issue is absolutely frustrating.

“As this is going on, the short-term loan companies are devoting huge budgets to advertising. The large number of daytime adverts predominantly reaches the old, young and unemployed.”

Mr Evans praised Championship football team Bolton Wanderers for abandoning a kit sponsorship deal with QuickQuid.

He said if football supporters saw the names of payday lenders alongside reputable companies it could legitimise them.

Labour MP Stella Creasy, who has been a vocal opponent of irresponsible payday lenders and travelled to Bolton to protest against the Whites’ QuickQuid deal, spoke of the nurse whose £100 loan spiralled into debts totalling £17,000 and of a father who has been struggling to stop loans being approved for his son who suffers with mental health problems.

Replying for the Government, Business Minister Jo Swinson said: "I share the concerns that have been raised and Government and regulators are acting.”